📈 Bitcoin to reach $100K

OpenSea new sky-high valuation, GS predicts BTC's future, Metaversal raises Series A and more.

Jan 06, 2022

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First up,

Market Recap 📈

The Indian benchmark indices ended their 4-day positive streak amid weak global cues led by hawkish US Fed minutes and rising Omicron concerns. US stocks ended in red over similar concerns.

Sensex: 59,601.84 (-1.03%) ↓

Nifty 50: 17,745.90 (-1.00%) ↓

Dow Jones: 36,407.11 (-1.07%) ↓

Nasdaq 100: 15,771.78 (-3.12%) ↓

Bitcoin: $42,862.64

Top Stories 📰

1. OpenSea is now worth $13.3 billion

The craze of funding crypto startups is skyrocketing, and OpenSea seems to have capitalized on it.

The world's most well-known NFT marketplace closed a $300 million Series C funding round that valued the company at a staggering $13.3 billion. Paradigm and Coatue led the fundraiser, with investments from new and existing investors, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said in a blog post. It had previously raised $100 million from a series of investors, including actor Ashton Kutcher and investment firm Andreessen Horowitz.

OpenSea, founded in 2017, lets people buy and sell NFTs—rare, digital collectibles items such as avatars, in-game assets, trading cards, and art backed by blockchain technology. In 2021, more than $3 billion in private investments went into NFT firms.

Despite the high-profile 'ape scams,' the platform seems to be doing pretty well. In the last 30 days alone, the company reported 1.6 million Ethereum transactions and a trading volume of $2.4 billion, according to data by DappRadar.

Why it matters? NFTs exploded in popularity last year as almost $41 billion worth of Ethereum-based artwork and collectibles were sold during the period. In fact, their sales almost equalled the global art market, which stood at $51.1 billion. And with Samsung's announcement of the world's first NFT-enabled TV, it's only a matter of time when other brands utilize NFTs capabilities to their advantage.

2. BTC to cross $100K

...over the next 5 years.

In a private note, Goldman Sachs analysts predict that a price of $100,000 can become a reality for the world's most popular crypto if it continues to take market share from gold as a store of value asset. Over time, this forecast is 'very likely' given the broader adoption of digital assets, the analysts added.

Today, Bitcoin's float-adjusted market cap stands at $700 billion, which constitutes 20% of the total store of value market for Bitcoin and gold. Meanwhile, the value of gold available for investment is $2.6 trillion. Now, if Bitcoin's share were to somehow increase by 50% in the next five years, its price could reach $100,000. This gives it a compound annualized return of 17% or 18%.

While there has been much criticism surrounding Bitcoin's electricity consumption—aka Energy FUD among crypto circles—experts believe that demand will continue to increase as inflation worries tighten in nations like Turkey.

“If we are truly in the era of the Great Monetary Inflation, more institutions and individuals in 2022 across the world might be drawn to bitcoin’s assured scarcity,” the report said.

Bitcoin is currently priced at $42,862.64.

Why it matters? Cheap money is here to stay. For years, Bitcoin has been referred to as digital gold due to its identical nature. Considering the broader acceptance of digital currencies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates believe that it will serve as protection against the systemic abuse of fiat currencies.

Deal Street 🤑

Metaversal raises Series A
NFT venture studio Metaversal has raised a $50 million Series A funding round led by Franklin Templeton, Foxhaven Asset Management, and Coinfund. Dapper Labs, Collab+Currency, Digital Currency Group, Theta Blockchain Ventures, Rarible, among others, participated in the round. The NFT-focused firm, which was the first institutional investor in ConstitutionDAO, plans to use the capital towards expanding its portfolio by acquiring high-profile digital collectibles and backing projects working towards making an open metaverse. The latest fundraiser also allowed Metaversal to secure partnerships with Flow and Rarible. NFTs were a massive success last year, garnering over $23 billion in trading volume. And the interest in digital collectibles seems to continue this year as recent projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club surpassed $1 billion in all-time sales on Tuesday.

Binance Labs leads Woo’s $30 million Series A
Binance Labs, the investment arm of crypto exchange platform Binance, said that it has invested $12 million in DeFi liquidity provider Woo Network. The fund made the strategic investment into Woo, which closed its $30 million Series A funding round in November that included participation from BitTorrent, Three Arrows Capital, Avalanche, and Crypto.com Capital. Since its inception, Woo has provided liquidity to more than 40 institutions, crypto wallets, trading platforms, and dApps. Some of the primary protocols supported by Woo include Matcha, ParaSwap, DODO, DYDX, and 1inch. The fresh capital will go towards research and development, expanding its operations, and increasing products of new decentralized products. Shortly after the announcement, WOO tokens rose over 25% from $0.93 to $1.20, nearing a market cap of $1 billion.